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By Samuel Adegoke
Details emerged Saturday evening about the unusual meeting which the governor of Ekiti State Kayode Fayemi had with a former governor of Oyo State Adebayo Alao-Akala in Ibadan on Saturday.
Fayemi paid a visit to the Ogbomoso-born governor in his Bodija, Ibadan home where they discussed matters relating to the forthcoming governorship election in Oyo State.
Newspeakonline reliably gathered that the meeting was further to the one Asiwaju Bola Tinubu had with Akala earlier in the week which made him drop his governorship ambition on the platform of the Action Democratic Party (ADP) to support All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Adebayo Adelabu.
Newspeakonline can authoritatively report that Fayemi, who has lived a good part of his life in Ibadan, went to cement the discussion with Akala, who is believed to wield a reasonable influence in Oyo politics. An impeccable source at the meeting confided in newspeakonline that Fayemi persuaded Akala to be committed to the alliance without wavering, stressing the reality that both parties may lose if they go into the election individually, and that Akala’s ADP stands less chance of winning independently.
As a former member of the party until October, 2018, Fayemi was said to have reminded Akala that APC is his party, urging him to ensure that he meets the expectation of the party leaders through the alliance.
In his response, Akala was said to have requested that the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Teaching Hospital which his administration built in Ogbomoso, should be allowed to function maximally, while also adding that LAUTECH funding crisis should be resolved without delay. The source said Akala listed the two issues as his major requests which he believes will bring joy to his people in Ogbomoso.
In the alliance, Akala will work for Adelabu’s victory in his areas of influence while the ADP House of Assembly candidates will still fly the flag of the party in the election.